State shows up to remove children from Ormond Beach doctor's home

Monday

Mar 11, 2013 at 5:45 PMMar 11, 2013 at 11:14 PM

LYDA LONGASTAFF WRITER

A Department of Children & Families caseworker called 9-1-1 and asked for help removing the daughter and stepdaughter of an Ormond Beach orthopedic surgeon from the family’s residence, advising police to bring backup because of the doctor’s violent history against law enforcement. The outcome of the state worker’s visit for the children, ages 6 and 13, at the home of Dr. Jeffrey Newfield the night of March 6 is not clear. DCF officials say confidentiality laws prohibit them from commenting on specific cases. “The father (Jeffrey Newfield) has a history of violence and battery on law enforcement,” the DCF caseworker told a sheriff’s dispatcher. “He’s (the police officer) probably gonna need backup.” The call by the caseworker was made five days after Newfield’s wife, Valerie Newfield, filed a petition for protective injunction against the 49-year-old physician. “I can’t discuss specific cases, but we only take children into protective custody if they’re in danger due to serious abuse or neglect,” said DCF spokesman John Harrell. “We try to place children with family members, but first we have to determine whether those family members can keep those children safe.” In the petition, Valerie Newfield stated that her 13-year-old daughter — Newfield’s stepdaughter — is afraid of her stepfather and in fear of becoming a victim of domestic violence herself. Newfield was arrested on Feb. 20 at his home after someone called 9-1-1, the arrest report shows, and it was the two children who spoke to police about what had happened. When officers arrived at the family’s house that evening just after 7 p.m., Valerie Newfield did not want to speak to police and told them that an abrasion on her swollen lip and a bruise on her forehead were the result of a “steamer” that had fallen on her. But Valerie Newfield’s oldest daughter told police that she had heard bumping sounds in the laundry room and had seen her mother standing in a corner of the room while Newfield stood over her yelling, the report shows. The teen then told police that she saw her mother bolt from the laundry room and Newfield chased her into another room, his fists waving in the air. The younger child later told officers that Newfield — who is her biological father — grabbed Valerie Newfield by a scarf she was wearing. Based on those statements, police arrested Newfield, charging him with domestic violence and battery. On March 1, Valerie Newfield filed a petition for the injunction, court records show. In her petition, Valerie Newfield stated that she was concerned about her husband’s behavior of the past few days. “This behavior of yelling, anger, harassment and stalking in the middle of the night has caused tremendous anxiety and fear for me and my children, especially for my daughter (the 13-year-old) who is afraid of becoming a victim of domestic violence.” After Newfield was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail, he and his wife met with Newfield’s lawyer Mike Lambert, the petition shows. Lambert suggested that Newfield stay at his parents’ condo on Marina Point Drive in Daytona Beach, the petition shows. On Feb. 28 before she filed the petition for the injunction, Valerie Newfield and her daughters arrived at the Ormond Beach house to find Newfield lying on the couch listening to an audio book titled, “Scream Free Marriage,” the petition shows. Newfield refused to leave the residence that evening, forcing his wife and the girls to go to the condo, the petition shows. Later that night, Newfield telephoned Valerie Newfield several times, yelling at her to come home. He threatened that if she didn’t, then she and her older daughter would not be welcome at his brother’s wedding in Atlanta that weekend, according to the petition. At that point, Valerie Newfield’s older daughter was so alarmed and anxious by the calls that Valerie Newfield packed up her belongings and the girls and all three went to a friend’s home somewhere in Ormond Beach, the petition states. According to Valerie Newfield, her husband showed up at that location at 1:30 a.m. She said he pounded on the front door and yelled. Valerie Newfield called police and Newfield left the property. At 5:45 a.m. though, Newfield returned, screaming for his younger daughter to come outside so that he could take her to the Atlanta wedding with him. Ormond Beach police responded again, this time giving Newfield a trespass warning, the petition shows. It’s not clear why Valerie Newfield and her children were at the family house on Twelve Oaks Trail on March 6, the same night the DCF caseworker went there and called police. Valerie Newfield could not be reached for comment on Monday. Newfield did not return calls left at his South Yonge Street office. A hearing regarding Valerie Newfield’s petition for protective injunction is set for Wednesday.

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